WEBVTT - Listener Mail: Gravy, Sinkholes and Soviet Sci-Fi 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:05.280 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:10.799 My Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:13.880 Mind listener mail. My name is Robert Lamb and I'm 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:16.120 Joe McCormick, and we've got a lot of great listener 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:18.319 mail to get into today. I say, we jumped right in. 0:00:18.400 --> 0:00:26.040 Are you ready, Rob, Let's do it? Okay. This first 0:00:26.120 --> 0:00:29.280 message comes to us from Mark. This is about the 0:00:29.440 --> 0:00:33.320 chemical and religious transformation of the essences of foods. I 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:35.800 think this goes back to our episode from the past 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:38.720 Thanksgiving where we talked about some of the strange science 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:44.040 and religious beliefs about gravy, and so Mark says, Hey, guys, 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:46.400 I really enjoyed the show. I've listened to just about 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:49.000 every episode since I got into it several years ago. 0:00:49.400 --> 0:00:50.960 You and stuff you should Know are kind of the 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:54.600 core of my podcast listening. Anyways, This is in reference 0:00:54.600 --> 0:00:58.640 to your Thanksgiving smorge Board episode, specifically the section on gravy. 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:01.120 I listened to it not long after it came out, 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:03.200 and this email has been brewing for a while in 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:06.399 my head. Finally got it out in it, Joe, I 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:09.920 think mused about gravy and the transformation of food from 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:13.160 one thing to another in a spiritual sense. There is 0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:16.279 such a thing today in Judaism. You may be aware 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:19.800 of cash root, the Jewish dietary practice. The one rule 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:22.240 that most people know about it is you don't mix 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:26.240 meat with milk. Now, this doesn't only mean cheeseburgers. It 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:29.120 means at the same meal, if you're having steak, you 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:31.920 can't have butter or sour cream on your baked potato. 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:35.480 It means having different pans to cook dairy dishes and 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:38.760 meat dishes in, and, depending on one's level of observance, 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:42.319 not eating one within six hours of each other. Like 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:45.080 if you have that milk chocolate for an afternoon snack, 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:48.880 kiss the steak dinner goodbye. But what happens if something 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:52.160 spills in the fridge. If you get some meat juice 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:55.080 in a bowl of milk, the milk is now tray ff. 0:01:55.400 --> 0:01:59.080 This is t r e y f or non kosher. However, 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:01.240 if you got to drop of milk in a bowl 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:03.800 of beef chili, it may still be fined to eat, 0:02:03.840 --> 0:02:07.720 as meat is considered a greater contaminant. Look at it 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:10.480 like mixing paint. A drop of white in a puddle 0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:13.200 of black paint will make no appreciable difference, but a 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:15.359 drop of black paint in a puddle of white will 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:19.120 have a drastic effect. Cheese made with rennet obtained from 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:23.400 cow stomachs, thus considered meat is an ongoing debate. Here's 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:27.440 the important part. In relation to the transformation of food gelatin, 0:02:28.000 --> 0:02:32.079 there is a principle called davar hadash. The H is 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:35.000 the flim hawking back of the throat. Sound not like 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:37.280 c H and cheese. So I hope, I said that right? 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:41.480 Dvar hadash in cash root that holds what that When 0:02:41.480 --> 0:02:45.760 a substance has been through certain chemical transformations or deluded 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:49.280 to a certain point, it loses its status as meat 0:02:49.360 --> 0:02:53.280 or milk. Food gelatin is the most common example. This 0:02:53.360 --> 0:02:57.119 is one reason why some jello type desserts and marshmallows 0:02:57.160 --> 0:03:00.520 are considered kosher and some are not. Just like one's 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:04.160 individual practice, the specifics are up for debate from rabbi 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:08.200 to rabbi, and tradition to tradition. Gelatine being rendered from 0:03:08.240 --> 0:03:11.720 animal bones should be meat. However, in the process of 0:03:11.720 --> 0:03:15.560 being made into gelatine, it undergoes certain processes that are 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:18.920 considered enough to strip it of its meat status and 0:03:19.000 --> 0:03:22.720 make it ParvE, which means neutral, neither meat nor milk. 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:26.880 Some rabbis hold this, some don't. Marshmallows are usually made 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:29.639 with gelatine, and I suppose there might be some kosher 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:33.720 ones that are, but most kosher marshmallows are made with eisenloss, 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:37.800 a gelatine like extract from fish guts. Fish are usually 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:42.360 considered parvey. That's a whole other rabbinic discussion, so anything 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:45.640 derived from them shares that quality. There are some other 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:48.720 factories that play into gelatine's kosher or not status, but 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:53.040 dvar hadash is the one that's most relevant here. So 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:56.880 it may not be exactly the distillation of bear essence. 0:03:56.960 --> 0:04:00.080 Remember the episode we're talking about bear gravy. Uh what 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:03.000 the idea of changing of food's essential qualities through a 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:06.560 cooking process is alive and well, and Judaism and probably 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:10.360 other cultures with dietary restrictions today, keep on with your 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:13.800 bad selves, Mark, And then, as a PS, Mark says, 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:16.960 I just remember the liver. Liver cannot be sold in 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:20.119 a kosher form, so homes that keep kosher will often 0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:23.080 have a tray pan just to boil the liver. The 0:04:23.160 --> 0:04:26.960 process cashiers or kosher's I think this is Cashier's Cashiers 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:29.760 the liver and makes it ready to be made into 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:34.000 your classic deli chopped liver spread. Interesting. I didn't know 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:38.000 much about all of that. That's that's that's that's very fascinating. Yeah. 0:04:38.040 --> 0:04:40.440 By the way, you can get vegan marshmallows. I know 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:42.720 that because those that's what we get here at the house. 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:46.960 Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I know in some recipes, Um, 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:50.479 there are substitutes for for when gelatine would often be used, 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:53.159 and say, certain types of baking or cooking where you 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:56.640 can substitute something like pecton, which is a plant product 0:04:56.720 --> 0:04:59.520 for gelatin sometimes, but it might not work in all cases, 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:07.280 So I don't if anybody does that with marshmallows. All right, 0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:10.039 here's another one. This one comes to us from Karina, 0:05:10.600 --> 0:05:13.960 and Karina writes, Hello, I'd like to start this message 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:16.960 with some praise. Your show has been my favorite for years, 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:20.479 and I appreciate how you approach even the more unconventional 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:24.000 topics with a scientific mindset and a little lightheartedness. Keep 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:26.279 up the great work, and please do keep up weird 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:29.240 how cinema and the artifact too. The reason I finally 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:32.799 decided to write in is however, the recent vault episode 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:35.760 on Kama Muda. At first, I didn't think it was 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:39.560 a particularly useful term, probably due to my avoiding team sports, 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:43.080 religious groups, and even baby Yoda, who is indeed very cute. 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:46.760 But then I kept pondering the concept of feeling a 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:49.560 strong connection to strangers, and suddenly it struck me that 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:52.800 it can be found in many a situation. For example, 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:55.760 I'm a law student who had a major oral exam earlier. 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:58.279 Today there are always three of us being questioned in 0:05:58.360 --> 0:06:01.960 turn these days, of with considerable physical space in between, 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:06.279 and the prompts are notoriously anything but easy. So as 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:09.240 I found myself rooting for the others, I started to 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:14.080 wonder why yes while being tested and remembered Karma Mudah. 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:16.840 Sometime later, I was relaxing by listening to my favorite 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:20.159 band uh called Muse and not particularly popular in my 0:06:20.240 --> 0:06:23.039 neck of the global woods, while remembering a show of 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:26.280 Theirs I attended in twenty nineteen, and there was that 0:06:26.320 --> 0:06:30.120 feeling again. Hearing some thousand other fans shout the very 0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:33.320 same words I otherwise sing by myself in the shower 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:35.839 is the closest to a drug high. I will in 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:39.840 all probability, uh ever have In short, since being made 0:06:39.880 --> 0:06:42.680 aware of this specific concept, I have begun to notice 0:06:42.880 --> 0:06:47.239 this sense of community practically everywhere, and for what it's worth, 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:50.800 that is great. Quick side note, With German being my 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:54.120 native tongue, I would not have expected that other languages 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:57.960 lack for a word like schadenfreude, but it's a handy 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:00.599 term that we use rather frequently. I experience a little 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:04.160 schadenfreud and myself right now for others who can't. Just kidding, 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:06.880 but I do think that having a specific name for 0:07:07.040 --> 0:07:10.760 a feeling makes it somehow less intangible. Best wishes from 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:15.480 far away Austria, Korea. That's really interesting, And that gets 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:17.240 into something that I think we talked about in some 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:21.560 other listener mail after the Kamma Muda episode that while 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:24.720 there I think are pretty good arguments against certain types 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:30.240 of linguistic determinism ideas in psychology, it seems, at least 0:07:30.240 --> 0:07:34.440 in my experience, pretty undeniable that having a word for 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:37.840 something can change how you experience the world. That like, 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:41.080 there might be a thing that you never noticed until 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:43.040 you had a word for it, and then once you've 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:44.840 got a word for it, you see it all over 0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:49.360 the place on the subject of Muse. When I was 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:51.320 I was in a band in high school that tried 0:07:51.360 --> 0:07:53.960 to cover a song by Muse. I don't exactly remember 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:56.320 the name of the song. I remember that I was 0:07:56.320 --> 0:07:58.320 supposed to be singing it and I was not doing 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:02.200 a good job. My main connection to muses that I 0:08:02.480 --> 0:08:06.040 really enjoyed the French horror movie High Tension when it 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:10.160 came out, and with two thousand three, which is a 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:13.960 really entertaining horror film to watch through once, but it 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:17.880 prominently features the mus song Newborn and uh, it really 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:22.280 effectively utilizes it. So I always associate news with that movie, 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:31.080 in that movie, with that particular news track. Nice Okay. 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:33.840 This next message is a response to a previous listener mail, 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:36.520 which follows up on our episodes about spinning and dizziness. 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:40.760 This is from Elizabeth. Elizabeth says, thanks for regularly blowing 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:43.319 my mind. Guys, you're the best. Just listen to your 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:46.520 responses to the listener mail nightmare Key episode and was 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:49.920 intrigued by your comments on both Vertigo and YouTube videos 0:08:50.400 --> 0:08:55.319 in combination. You see some YouTube videos give me motion sickness, 0:08:55.400 --> 0:08:59.120 much as the early versions of Doom did. Yeah, I 0:08:59.200 --> 0:09:02.880 just dated my of horribly, I know. Anyway, YouTube's worst 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:06.680 offenders tend to be Minecraft videos. I wonder why that is, 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:09.880 and if the affliction is widespread or just me. I mean, 0:09:09.920 --> 0:09:12.480 it's not like my inner ear is moving around or anything. 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:16.440 Thanks again, Elizabeth, Well, Elizabeth, I think there is an 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:19.320 answer to this. So, first of all, the experience of 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:24.520 general motion sickness symptoms including vertigo dizziness while people are 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:27.520 using video games, which I think this would also include 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:31.040 watching videos of game play in games that is common 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:33.760 that is not just you. It seems to be especially 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:35.920 common from what I can tell, in games that are 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:39.640 played from a first person perspective as opposed to a 0:09:39.720 --> 0:09:42.200 third person perspective. And I think this would line up 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:45.320 with both Minecraft and Doom if I'm not correct. I've 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:47.920 never played Minecraft. That's first person, and I think you 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:51.200 can switch it up. Okay, But anyway, there's actually a 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:55.360 related phenomenon in pilot training known as simulator sickness. Rob. 0:09:55.400 --> 0:09:57.120 I know you you know a lot about airplanes. Have 0:09:57.120 --> 0:10:00.040 you ever heard of this before? Um, I'm not remembering anything, 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:02.880 and simulator sickness off stuff in my head now. Well, Basically, 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:06.200 the deal is that pilots who use stationary flight simulators 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:10.600 to train sometimes experience vertigo, nausea, and other motion sickness 0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:14.360 effects even though they're not moving. One interesting finding about this, 0:10:14.400 --> 0:10:16.840 at least from what I recall, is that the more 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:20.960 experienced a pilot is with actual flight, the more likely 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:24.559 they are to experience simulator sickness in a virtual environment. 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:30.120 But anyway, what explains this feeling of vertigo? You know, like, 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:32.160 what what would get you feeling this way just from 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:34.480 interacting with video content if your body is not even 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:38.640 moving around? Well, I think there are multiple hypothesized explanations, 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:40.360 but the main one that I would put out there 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:45.679 would be sensory incongruity, basically disagreement between the senses. So 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:48.720 when your vestibular organs are telling you one thing about 0:10:48.720 --> 0:10:51.840 your movement, such as you are sitting still, and your 0:10:51.960 --> 0:10:55.040 vision is telling you something different you are moving around, 0:10:55.440 --> 0:10:58.320 this can make you feel dizzy because they're not in agreement. 0:10:58.360 --> 0:11:00.960 It's that lack of agreement that leads to some types 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:04.319 of dizziness in in other scenarios um and so this 0:11:04.400 --> 0:11:06.679 seems to be one reason that sometimes you can kind 0:11:06.679 --> 0:11:09.719 of reduce dizziness from spinning by closing your eyes right. 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:13.280 But anyway, because of this, I would guess I don't 0:11:13.320 --> 0:11:15.360 know this for sure, but it would be my suspicion 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:19.000 that video games and simulators the ones that are most 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:22.360 likely to cause dizziness are the ones that are best 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:25.920 at confusing the brain into thinking that it is just 0:11:26.160 --> 0:11:28.760 real vision of a real environment. So I think it 0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:32.280 would be especially bad with virtual reality, but even if 0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:34.880 you're just looking at a flat two D display, I 0:11:34.880 --> 0:11:37.439 think it would probably be the most intense with video 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:43.280 games that include first person perspectives of watching first person operations, 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:46.520 including the hands or controls or like a gun even 0:11:46.559 --> 0:11:48.960 in a first person shooter, in front of the body, 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:53.600 and especially that would involve looking around a lot. I've 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:55.920 also found that if you hand the controller off to 0:11:56.000 --> 0:11:59.600 a small child and let them just roar the row 0:11:59.679 --> 0:12:03.760 around in circles, that can that can cause a dizzying effect. Um. 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:06.040 I've also found that if I pick up a controller 0:12:06.440 --> 0:12:09.640 that someone else is using and and and they have 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:14.120 not inverted the y axis, then that can make me 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:16.200 feel a little dizzy, like maybe maybe it's just because 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:18.240 you know things aren't moving the way they're supposed to, 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:20.439 and it just feels kind of disordient. I don't know. 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:22.840 Maybe it's not full on dizziness, but it it feels 0:12:22.840 --> 0:12:25.560 a little sickening somehow. Yeah, I know what you're talking 0:12:25.600 --> 0:12:29.200 about there. I'm interested in this fact that it seems 0:12:29.280 --> 0:12:32.719 like pilots who have more experience in real airplanes are 0:12:32.800 --> 0:12:37.040 more prone to this experience in simulators. It makes me 0:12:37.080 --> 0:12:42.200 think that Elizabeth Uh was dizzy by playing the original 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:46.280 Doom because she had all of this experience blasting demons 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:49.560 on Mars real life, she'd actually been on Phobos fighting 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:52.720 off the Horde from Hell. Exactly were you there, Elizabeth? 0:12:52.720 --> 0:13:01.120 You gotta tell us, all right, here's another one for us. 0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:03.200 This is Uh. This comes to us from Nick, and 0:13:03.240 --> 0:13:06.679 it's regarding sinkholes. Nick writes, I spend my morning commute 0:13:06.679 --> 0:13:09.520 listening to your podcast, as I always do, during your 0:13:09.520 --> 0:13:12.200 discussion of sinkholes and how they have led to discoveries 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:15.440 about remains, such as the diet of the giant sloth. 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:18.440 I know it did not have much to do with 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:21.280 the topic, but I actually think a future discussion about 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:24.400 animals like the giant sloth would be really entertaining. Um 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:27.280 I would agree with that, uh. Nick continues, I'm a 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:29.960 young engineer. But what free time I have I spend 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:33.120 in the outdoors appreciating the world's natural beauty. And on 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:35.520 a recent trip to Joshua Tree, I learned all about 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:37.760 how giant sloths of that area had a diet that 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:41.240 largely consisted of Joshua tree fruits, and that the demise 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:43.160 of the giant swath led to the demise of the 0:13:43.240 --> 0:13:46.439 Joshua tree, and vice versa, as one may presume. As 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:49.200 giant sloths began to die out, less seeds were dispersed 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:52.600 by the sloths, leading to less territory occupied by the 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:55.920 Joshua trees, leading to less territory for the sloths who 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:58.880 relied on the trees fruit, etcetera, etcetera. I know this 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:01.640 may be a bit parochial, but honestly, what is more 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:04.520 majestic than the idea of a giant sloth. The fact 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:08.200 that this animal ever existed has always intrigued me, and 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:11.959 I feel it is not talked about enough, so maybe 0:14:12.000 --> 0:14:14.080 it would be something fun to look at. Anyway. I 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:17.080 love your podcast. I listened daily, and as a true fan, 0:14:17.320 --> 0:14:19.960 I tell people all the time not to trust squirrels. 0:14:20.040 --> 0:14:25.360 All the best, Nick Boy, it's the giants loth is 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:28.240 not talked about enough. It's like there's a conspiracy of 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:31.760 silence about the giants loth. Well, I mean, I I 0:14:31.800 --> 0:14:34.360 see where they're coming from, because, yeah, the giant sloth 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:39.480 is this huge, fascinating creature, and sometimes there's a tendency 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:43.120 maybe to focus on other prehistoric animals. Um. I frequently 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:45.040 have this conversation with my son, because he's very vocal 0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:46.840 about this. He's like, the t rex is not my 0:14:46.880 --> 0:14:49.720 favorite dinosaur, Dad, because too many, too much attention goes 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:51.600 to the t rex. There are all these other cool 0:14:51.600 --> 0:14:54.680 dinosaurs that deserve credit. And so I like along those 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:57.520 same lines. Yeah, so like he was into the spinosaurus 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:00.440 before it was cool, Yeah that sort of thing. Oh yeah, 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:03.440 there's just so many cool creatures and it's easy to 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:05.800 focus on other prehistar creatures. But the giant sloth is 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:09.160 is really neat and I mean and also here here 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:10.600 in our neck of the woods, like it's one we 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:12.640 can point to. It's saying like, yeah, there's the giant 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:15.560 slot that that lived here. Actually, the more that I 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:17.320 think about this, this is a great idea. We should 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:20.920 do our best to inculcate an extinct mega fauna. Counterculture. 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:25.240 That's all about people celebrating the virtues of lesser appreciated 0:15:25.320 --> 0:15:29.280 extinct to giant animals. Yeah, well, um, I would love 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:31.640 to discuss the giant sloth in the future. I enjoy 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:34.560 our prehistar creature episodes and yeah, we'll have to We'll 0:15:34.600 --> 0:15:36.440 have to do another one soon. I figured there'd be 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:39.160 a lot of room from Moa in there. But anyway, uh, 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:47.840 this uh, this next message comes from the exact same 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:50.200 listener from Nick. Uh. It's a follow up to our 0:15:50.240 --> 0:15:53.200 episode about bonsai trees. And this is a kind of 0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:56.120 message I love getting from somebody who has been listening 0:15:56.120 --> 0:15:57.960 to the show for a while and then suddenly we 0:15:58.080 --> 0:16:01.480 just stumble across their area of x pertise. So anyway, 0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:04.320 Nick says, good morning. I just listened to your episode 0:16:04.320 --> 0:16:06.440 on bonsai trees and I wanted to reach out in 0:16:06.480 --> 0:16:09.200 regards to the study you guys brought up about semi 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:12.160 dwarf trees and the possible benefits for their use in 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:15.880 pulping processes, partially because this is the first topic I 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:18.680 have some sort of expertise in. I am a paper 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:22.080 science engineer and a chemical engineer, so I have some 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:25.200 experience in the science of tree fibers. When you brought 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:30.760 up the impact on reaction woods, my mind started racing. Essentially, 0:16:30.880 --> 0:16:35.520 trees are made up of three major components, cellulose, hemi, cellulose, 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:39.200 and lignant. The percentage makeup varies from tree to tree 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:42.400 and species to species, but in general a good assumption 0:16:42.720 --> 0:16:48.720 is about fifty percent cellulose, hemi, cellulose and lignant. UH. 0:16:48.760 --> 0:16:52.560 In papermaking, we really only care about cellulose. That's the 0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:56.200 part that we can use. Again, generally speaking, while lignan 0:16:56.480 --> 0:17:00.000 is what you might call our arch nemesis, lignant acts 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:03.440 like the glue that holds everything together and is an 0:17:03.440 --> 0:17:07.600 extremely complex chemical. Theoretically, there could be cases where the 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:12.520 entire lignant content of the tree is all one connected molecule. 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:15.600 Absolutely astonishing to me. Wow, and I had no idea 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:19.000 of that, Nick, that's crazy. But anyway, coming back to 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:23.120 the subject of reaction woods, Nick writes, reaction woods are 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:27.119 most easily explained by a branch, though, as you mentioned, slopes, 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:31.000 wind and other harsh weather can also cause reaction woods 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:34.399 to form. To use the branch example above, the branch 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:37.679 will build up pockets of tension would in order to 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:41.240 pull the branch up while uh, and here Nick says 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:44.120 above what I think Nick min below. So I'm gonna say, well, 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:47.760 below the branch there will develop compression would to push 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:50.720 the branch up. The tension woods will have a higher 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:55.520 proportion of cellulose, say six, while the compression woods build 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:58.760 up more lignant content. One might assume that this means 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:01.600 the tension would is per furred by paper market, since 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:04.960 we like cellulose, But this assumption is wrong. Though I 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:08.240 do hate compression would because of its lignant I love 0:18:08.320 --> 0:18:12.399 this hate for wood um the can The inconsistency that 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:15.560 arises from reaction would makes the pulping process hard to 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:19.240 control and actually decreases the overall quality and or yield 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:22.240 of the pulp, which in turn makes the paper produced 0:18:22.400 --> 0:18:25.119 that much worse. This is why the study you mentioned 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:28.240 that could reduce reaction woods caught me off guard. It 0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:32.200 seems like such an easy solution with such massive impact. Anyway, 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:34.840 if you ever do an episode on papermaking, because it 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:37.560 honestly is an incredibly complex and at least to me, 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:41.159 deeply interesting topic, I'll be listening intently. I know there 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:43.960 aren't many paper scientists walking around out there, but once 0:18:44.000 --> 0:18:46.120 you get one of us going about paper. We could 0:18:46.160 --> 0:18:49.159 talk for hours. Love your show. Listen every morning and 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:53.560 afternoon during my commute. Thanks nick Ah, that's awesome. Yeah, 0:18:54.000 --> 0:18:56.719 get some I got to get some paper science, uh 0:18:57.080 --> 0:18:59.800 input from our listeners here. And you know, I don't 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:02.360 think we've done a full episode on like the invention 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:03.959 of paper and all it. It came up in an 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:05.760 invention episode, but I can't remember what it was. I 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:07.960 think we did one on the book that was about 0:19:08.520 --> 0:19:12.200 the history where we talked about like overall book technology 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:14.840 scroll versus codax, and so we talked about some like 0:19:15.040 --> 0:19:18.919 types of papermaking. We talked about parchment and about papyrus 0:19:18.960 --> 0:19:21.879 making and all that. But yeah, modern paper based on 0:19:21.920 --> 0:19:25.600 wood cellulo, so that would be interesting. Yeah yeah, um, 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:29.280 you know, speaking of paper making and books. This is 0:19:29.320 --> 0:19:31.840 one of the things I enjoyed about the the more 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:34.920 recent TV adaptation of the Name of the Roads is 0:19:35.000 --> 0:19:36.520 that there are a few scenes where you see the 0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:41.040 monks making parchment, making the paper for the books. Interesting. 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:48.480 All right, let's let's get into some of that weird 0:19:48.520 --> 0:19:52.639 house cinema listener mail here. Now, this first bit that 0:19:52.680 --> 0:19:56.000 comes to us, this was actually left on um a 0:19:56.119 --> 0:19:59.480 post at my blog side Samuta Music s E m 0:19:59.560 --> 0:20:02.320 U t A m U S. I see. Uh, clearly 0:20:02.480 --> 0:20:04.800 I wasn't thinking about something that that translated well to 0:20:05.320 --> 0:20:08.640 to delivering on the podcast when I when I established 0:20:08.640 --> 0:20:10.920 that side. But I blog about the Weirdout Cinema episodes 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:14.639 there and we had a listener respond we're not entirely 0:20:14.640 --> 0:20:17.600 sure what their name is or what their name they 0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:19.080 want to go by, so we're just gonna skip the 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:23.359 name and say a A listener wrote in and they 0:20:23.359 --> 0:20:27.439 were responding to our episode on the Oily Maniac. Uh, 0:20:27.600 --> 0:20:30.080 so this is what they say. Nice job. You've covered 0:20:30.080 --> 0:20:33.320 a lot of interesting info about this Shaw Brothers flick. 0:20:33.760 --> 0:20:36.240 As a fan of Chinese and Hong Kong cinema, I 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:39.160 have watched a couple of hundred of the Shaw Martial Arts, 0:20:39.200 --> 0:20:42.439 horror and comedy films. The Oily Maniac is definitely one 0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:44.879 of the lesser productions from the Shop Brothers, but it 0:20:44.960 --> 0:20:48.280 still has its moments. Those interested in more Shop Brothers 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:51.320 black magic films should check out the work of director 0:20:51.600 --> 0:20:56.760 to whom Key such as Hex eight, Hex Versus Witchcraft eighty, 0:20:57.520 --> 0:21:01.320 The Gross Out Pick, Corpse Mania nineteen eight one, Hex 0:21:01.400 --> 0:21:06.760 after Hex two and the wacky The Boxers omen three, 0:21:07.280 --> 0:21:10.040 but my favorite has got to be hex Lies in Videotape. 0:21:11.400 --> 0:21:14.440 Oh that would be good. Um Uh, you know I've 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:16.040 heard of The Boxers omen That one's been on my 0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:17.840 radar for a while, but I've never actually seen it. 0:21:17.840 --> 0:21:19.280 But I know it's supposed to be a weird one. 0:21:20.080 --> 0:21:23.280 Um anyway, they continue. Um. He also directed one of 0:21:23.280 --> 0:21:26.800 the all time best Shop Brothers dramatic martial arts arts films, 0:21:27.000 --> 0:21:30.320 Killer Constable, which deserves to be better known and is 0:21:30.320 --> 0:21:33.840 currently available free to view with an Amazon Prime subscription. 0:21:34.240 --> 0:21:37.320 Killer Constable. I'll have to look it up. There are 0:21:37.359 --> 0:21:40.119 also two more films in the black magic horror genre 0:21:40.240 --> 0:21:43.120 by Ming Ho Ho, the director of The Oily Maniac. 0:21:43.359 --> 0:21:47.240 They start ty Lung and are appropriately named black Magic 0:21:47.320 --> 0:21:52.040 Nive and Black Magic two nine six. Note all of 0:21:52.080 --> 0:21:55.280 the films I mentioned contains subject matter that can be objectionable, 0:21:55.480 --> 0:22:00.000 nausea inducing and just playing wrong and times. I believe 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:03.359 forward to more great weird House cinema podcast. So clearly 0:22:03.400 --> 0:22:06.920 there's a lot of great um Shaw Brothers and Hong 0:22:07.000 --> 0:22:11.600 Kong cinema black magic content out there. If we if 0:22:11.600 --> 0:22:14.639 we're brave enough for it in the future totally. Uh So, 0:22:14.800 --> 0:22:16.480 I think we've got to come back to the Shaw 0:22:16.560 --> 0:22:18.800 Brothers someday. Maybe maybe we can find one that's a 0:22:18.840 --> 0:22:22.080 little less grimy but still just as weird. Yeah yeah, 0:22:22.480 --> 0:22:25.080 And I think I think I have one kind of 0:22:25.119 --> 0:22:26.800